Stenographic machine



N. T. BERKELMANS STENOGRAPHIC MACHINE Feb. 2, 1960 Filed March 24, 1958l L 'w "l Hwnnwn ...In H Ul www- ,a

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United StatesPatent STENOGRAPHIC MACHINE Nicholas T. Berkelmans, St.Pierre, Belgium Application March 24, 1958, Serial No. 723,364 1oclaims. (ci. 197-9) This invention relates` to a stenographic machineand is a continuation-in-part of application, Serial Number 543,813, ledby me October 31, 1955, now Patent No. 2,835,368.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a stenographicmachine for typing words orthographically on a syllabic basis, includinga single-case keyboard having a plurality of keys operable singly or inmultiple, to reproduce characters which resemble or produce a reasonablefacsimile of the letters of the alphabet, the keys being of such anumber and so arranged that the fingers of both hands operate no morethan two keys each.

Other objects are to reduce the number of keys comprising the keyboardto eighteen, the characters o'f selected adjacent keys being related toreproduce addi# tional letters when the keys are simultaneously struck;to provide a stenographic machine of the character described in whichthe keys are strategically located to efIect in eXcess of ninety percentcorrect spelling for any language in which Latin characters are used; toprovide a stenographic machine of the character described, certain typesof which are each adapted to selectively reproduce multiple characters,the particular character reproduced depending upon the amount ofpressure with which 'the operating key is struck; to provide a keyboardwhich is operated without lateral shifting of the hands or lingers andin which the pattern of home row keys corresponds with the most naturalposition of the hands, these keys representing the greater majority ofthe keys struck; and to arrange the keys of the keyboard to obtainmaximum symmetry in shape and positioning of the characters and alsosymmetry in manipulation thereof for reproducing combined letters.

Other objects of the invention will be manifest from the followingdescription of the present preferred form of the invention, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a top plan view of a stenographic machine constructed inaccordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the keyboard of the present stenographicmachine, certain keys thereof being hatched to illustrate the symmetryof the keyboard;

Fig. 3 is a similar view, certain keys of the keyboard being hatched toillustrate the "home row;

Fig. 4 illustrates the sequence of characters made by the presentinvention;

Fig. 5 illustrates the combination letters comprising initial consonantsreproduced by the machine of the present invention;

Fig. 6 illustrates the combination letters comprising final consonantsreproduced by the machine of the present invention;

y Fig. 7 is a top plan view of a stenographic machine illustrating amodified form of the present invention;

Fig. 8 illustrates the sequence of letters made bythe form of theinvention shown'in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of a type bar v forming a part ofthe modified form of the present' in? ice,

vention;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged' perspective view of still another type barforming a part of the present invention; andi Fig. 11 is a tableillustrating the character reproduced by striking selected keys withnormal pressure and addiJ tional pressure in the form of invention shownin Pig. 7".-

Referring now in greater detail to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the machineof the present invention comprises a; frame or casing 10 including acover 11 and a keyboard 12. Adapted to engage a paper roll carriedV byframe' 10 are a plurality of type bars 13 supported by lever arms 14.V Alever arm rest is indicated at 1S. Type bars 13 are 'selectively raisedto contact the paper roll by operation of akey or keys comprisingkeyboard 12 which directly actuate lever arms 14. Conventional springmeans (not shown) are provided for returning the type bars to their restposition upon release of the particular key or keys. Any conventionalescape mechanism may be employed for moving the paper through themachine a predetermined amount, after each simultaneous depression of akey or keys. It isto be understood that the paper roll may be fed aftfrom the machine, after the fashion ofv a typewriter, or fed laterallytherefrom, after the fashion of a ticker-tape machine.

Keyboard 12 of the present invention is banked, and, forpurposes ofdescription, is considered to be divided into three blocks of keysdesignated 16, 17 and 18. Block 16 comprises six `keys arranged in threecolumns of two keys each and operated by the little linger, ring ngerand middle finger of the left hand. Each linger thereforeoperates vtwokeys, movement thereof being; strictly fore and aft. It will be seenfrom a consideration of Fig. 1, that the keys in block 16 comprise theinitial consonants of the syllable to be reproduced, and are actuated bythe lingers of the left hand, the'rst, column including the P and Skeys, operated by the little linger, the second columnincluding the Cand F keys, operated by the ring linger, and the lower key of .the thirdcolumn being the T key. The top key of the third column is for theliquid consonant L. The T and L keys are actuated by the middle finger.

Central block 17 of keyboard 12 comprises eight keys in three columns,two of which columns are composed of three keys each and the third orright-hand column having two keys. The two columns of three keys eachare operated by both index lingers and both thumbs, while the thirdcolumn is operated by the middle finger of the right hand. The keys ofcentral block 17 make up the vowels E, A, L 0, U, and liquid consonantsL and R. The E and A keys of the first column in block 17 are operatedby the index linger of the left hand and the R key of the same column isoperated by the left thumb. The I and O keys of the second column areoperated by the index iinger of the right hand and the R key of the samecolumn is operated by the right thumb. The right hand column of keys ofblock 17 comprises the L and U keys, which are operated by the middlefinger of the right hand. It will be apparent from the foregoing,therefore, that with the present keyboard, each thumb operates one keyonly.

Block 18 comprises four keys, arranged in two columns of two keys each,operated by the ring finger and little finger of the right hand. Eachlinger selectively operates two keys by fore and aft movement in thesame manner as the keys of blocks 16 and 17. These keys comprise iinalconsonants of the syllable to be reproduced, the rst column includingthe F and C keys, the second column being composed of T and S keys.

kIn Fig. 2 there is illustrated a schematic lview of the l keyboard inwhich vthe `initial and nal consonants are hatched to show the symmetryor approximate equilib- Patented' Feb; 2, 19,60

riunq1; effectdedbyuse pif.,thnenlreyboar-d ofthe present invention. Ithas been foundthat by centrally locating 'A the"`liq`id consonants 'and'byfpo's'itbingwth' 4vowel keys so that the majority thereofgare operatedby the right handrthedesireji eqn.' hfiumfSatteinedaf- In 'Figf'Bj the htlie`d' de""gtetl1e home Fowl.. positionpf theiingervspn4keyl'toard12,,.V It iwilli bei* noted tha "thepatternoffthejfhome'Vovv??.kejsgenerally,cor n spo ds'tothe,triosthatral'positi'oftheliidSarfdtl the' k'ejysfpeach 'coiumnarejse1ectiye1y 's' shownto advantageinFigs, V1,24, S oandwo,v thechar-,` acters Vtype'dlby smerofftli keysa'resinili to I` t i l, ofUthe alphabet4 `whileothcrlclai' 'ha whichsuggest'm'orethan oneflettei vo i'ridic'atefunction'ofthe'particularfkey; In ,block certain-fchar'acters sei-ve"adualfuiic1 their similarity Vinson/nd, ppeararrcsi.y severz'ilVletters ,ofthe alphabet., Theilette'r .,S'i 16`^is also used for theletterfZ,'becausei Ofjthe y larity in sound' of, these letters',v TheVsam'eis ,tiue fof hef, 25 C `key which is used forthe lette'I'Kfand rlsob if cause of its 'similarity in appearance Land,deivatioii,A isVAused for the letter GJ The character, used ,for thef letters Y,"J F issuggestivefiriappearance, to-A all of these letters.-

In block 17, thejsame charactersare usedfqr the Eletters.` O and Q andfor` the letters L and V,,v 'since'these respective characters' are@each suggestive `of, these t'wA 1er-ters. n

In Fig. 5, there are setout initial consonants formed 35 bycombining thecharacters'-of'bl'ockv 16` and ,liquid con" sonant RT of vowel block 17.`It will be nbtedthat the consonant values M, ,TH,"CH and"SH"req1irrethe" simultaneous depression ,of three keys', while ,the frirlilfafy`tion of `combination 'letters' fB, D, -N," W',," andf.40 I-IA requirethe simultaneous Ydepres'sionwol .only two keys. Thus .the keys`of`bl0ck16`takerifsingly, and inf combination 'with liquidc'ons'or'iantx,keyV fR of li1oek17f` format leas't lifteenphovneticalvalues,` viz.,"kS,."P,. MF, `C, aT, HL, MB, Hgr aDs Wp.uNea-g M13`45 TH, .CH, and"SH.`

The characters'ofrblock 18 are. to some extent, Isimilar to thatfoundinrblock' 16. For example, the" Tof block 18 is quite'sirilar tothe T of blockli thefC key of block 18,is similar tothe C key'ofblock1`6 50 and is also used for rthe'letters K .andG as in block 16.The Y key of `block 18 .is considerably'different in' appearance fromthat in block 16 but is also usedffo the letter F because of itsresemblance thereto.y `Let ter S of block 18 is the same asthe S ofblock 16 55 and its shape suggests its use las the letter HQ, y Y' InFigj, there are illustrated the consonants formed with thev liquidconsonant keys of vowelblock -1'71 v.and final 'consonant block 18 `bycombining "the characters typed by these keys. Theletter M'is nformed,by com- 60 bining the indicia of three keys, while the remainder arefoimed by the indicia of onlytwo keys. The keysof block 18 together withliquid consonant keys Rand L of vowel block 17, form at leastthirteenfphonetical values, vizl Rn Ia Fn CJ Tu s, NyfuMn uw, uP, D THand CH' l In formingthe majority of thecombination letters, laterallyadjacent keys are, depressed., However, in forming initials H, W, M andiin'al PVand TH, two keys in the same column are operated by one `iinge.70 This is readily done by virtue `of the close Vproxilrnityof th@ keys.v

In Figs. 7 to 1l, there is illustrateda modiedform otythe presentinvention in which partslthereoffcorrein Figs 1 -to`^6are-identitiedbylike, `primed numbers; This form of the inventionreproduces the same'char-` aciersI iwthewar'rie' sequenee"as'"th`eh'chishw" Figs. 1 to 6, when the keys are struck with normal pressure.However, in order to eliect greater clarity of characters used torepresent a plurality of letters of the alphabet, and to provide alarger number of diphthong combinations, with more correct spelling, asa result,

.. fifteen of the eighteen ke'ysilaiie supplementary type portions. ,i 1n The supplementary'type portions consist of either extensionsvof"eiri's"t.ing c'haricters;v illstrt'd in :Figli 9, orseparateentitieg illlis'tratedl `in Fig.v .10, `InmFig., `9,there` nLA--g .r wia. ,idhnl l n'. 1, ,i v .l 1s shown a type bar 13 on whlch ismounted a mam or primary type 19, .whichinlthis caseis the character forthe letter L In accordance with the present invention, this samecharacter is also used to represent the letter V, because of itsresemblance thereto. However, inorder to giyehthis characterFfastrongergresembrairce. ,te the: letter wz tnerejisrss .mgrjrntealpntypabar '13,', adjacentI the shorter' leg ofthe'ch'racter, a' 'type'fgextension 20' preferably including' elongated protuberah x. or thelike,desigiiatedUZL for, reproducing ual otted,i V 1i1`1fe',y`

main type, but vis separatefand distincttherefroin'. "For d'c'edwhereas, when x' ythe Ikey' A is' struck with fadlitional` pressure,fthediphthong OO is reproduee'cl. `In Fig2f8; thefsequlence ofcharactersproducedbythe` modified :'.formV of' the[invention fris` ,setfoiit,`fth' bold'F print indicating the character` imprinted by the`rnainf'oi"` primary types and the dotted portions representing the'type'eiitensions andsupplementarytypes It isfof` cou e to beunderstoodthat.full`linesmay be'employed nl u" of dottedllines forthe'suppleiiien'tay type portions.

`Fig.V ll-is a tableA illstratinghthfe chara'cters`-lxep`roduced bythose types 'having supplement,ary` typeportions,l when the keys arestruck with normalaidwit'h Vadditional forte.` The corresponding letterorlette'rs of Ythe alphabetjare indicated in parenthesis.Aconsideratioii 'of Athisitable clearly points out tlie vcloseresemblance of` the"ch"aracters` to theletters of the alphabet whichtl'i'ey'epreseltl "The combination letters showhyiriv Figs. 5' and 6yeniai'n the samein thisiifolmy of theinventioriff l The' sequence' ofvowels employed by the present machine, 13, "A,' L O` Iand U 'has beenfdto be the mostjfavorablefsequence 'in writing the"English"lnVguagesince', inA this sequence, the letters can begc'ombined to form themost'frequently occurring diphthongs' inthe language, i.e. OU,Y\ EA,..IO and A133` `These diphthongs appear in the English ,language morethan three times as ofte'n `as'the'remaining diphthongs taken together.A It is .of course withinthe `contemplationof;111? present invention torearrange this sequence tobest suit any other language employing Latincharacters forwhich the presentmachine might be used.

With the machine of the present inventioutheL spelling ofwordsis atleast,ninety percentcorrect lfor any languagenin which Latincharacters-Aare-used, thismaccuracy being 1considerably l greater with`thefrnaehinef'i shown in 7 to 11.UFurthermoregfthe"simplicityApfltlieinachine, coupled with the clarity ofthe typed characters, enable a novice to master this machine in a veryshort period of time, without the need of formal instruction.

While I have herein shown and described preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is nevertheless to beunderstood that various changes maybe made therein, without departing from the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A keyboard for stenographic machines comprising a block of keys forinitial consonants arranged in three columns of keys selectivelyoperated by the little finger, ring finger and middle finger of the lefthand, a central block of keys for vowels and liquid consonants arrangedin three columns, two of said columns comprising three keys and thethird column having two keys, said central block keys being selectivelyoperated by the index fingers and thumbs of both hands and by the middlefinger of the right hand, and a block of keys for final consonantsarranged in two columns of keys selectively operated by the ring fingerand little linger of the right hand.

2. A keyboard for stenographic machines, as set out in claim 1, whereinthe block of keys for initial consonants includes a liquid consonant.

3. A keyboard for stenographic machines, as set out in claim 1, with theaddition of a set of types operatively connected to said keys in apredetermined sequence and bearing characters corresponding to the keys,two keys of the central block being for the liquid consonant R, thetypes for these two keys being at the beginning and end respectively ofthe sequence of vowels and liquid consonants imprinted by said set oftypes.

4. A keyboard for stenographic machines, as set out in claim 2, whereinthe central block of keys embodies a single pair of thumb-operated keys,each key being for a liquid consonant.

5. A single case keyboard for a stenographic machine comprising amaximum of eighteen keys including a block of six keys for initialconsonants, a block of eight keys for vowels and liquid consonants, anda block of four keys for final consonants.

6. A stenographic machine including a single case keyboard consisting ofa block of selectively operable keys bearing characters, for initialconsonants, arranged in three columns of two keys each, a block ofselectively operable keys bearing characters, for yvowels and liquid Cilconsonants, arranged in three columns, two of said co1- umns comprisingthree keys and the third column having two keys, a block of selectivelyoperable keys bearingv characters, arranged in two columns of two keyseach, and a set of types operatively connected to said keys, the typesbearing indicia which correspond to the indicia of the keys, the keysbeing operable singly or in multiple, to record a facsimile character ofthe key operated or a composite of two or more simultaneously operatedkeys.

7. A stenographic machine as set out in claim 6, wherein the charactersof the types are strategically positioned and shaped to form the fourinitial consonants S, B, D and N when selected keys are depressed in apredetermined manner, either singly or in multiple the charactersforming the four consonants designating7 either singly or in multiple,at least fifteen consonantal values.

8. A stenographic machine, as set out in claim 7, wherein the charactersof the types are strategically positioned and shaped to form the threeIfinal consonants M, D, and S when selected keys are depressed in apredetermined manner, either singly or in multiple, the charactersforming the three consonants designating, either singly or in multiple,at least thirteen consonantal values.

9. A stenographic machine including a single case keyboard having amaximum of eighteen keys comprising a block of six keys for initialconsonants, a block of eight keys for vowels and liquid consonants, anda block of rfour keys for final consonants, the machine furtherincluding a set of type bars operatively connected to said keys, andindicia bearing types mounted on said type bars, a plurality of saidtypes including a main type portion and a supplemental type portion, theouter faces of said main and supplemental portions lying in diferentplanes.

10. A stenographic machine, as set out in claim 9, wherein some of thesupplemental type portions comprise indicia which have extensions of themain type portions and others embody types bearing indicia which areseparate and distinct from the main type portions.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS598,524 Litchfield Feb. 8, 1898 2,154,577 Den Outer Apr. 18, 19392,835,368 Berkelmans May 20, 1958

